​The Gauteng Department of Social Development has called on the public to be vigilant on social media platforms as traffickers use the Internet to recruit, lure and exploit victims.
The warning was made during a multi-stakeholder Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Week commemoration at the Protea Hotel, in Kempton Park on Wednesday, 05 October 2022.

Traffickers have adapted to modern technology and the internet using it to find their victims, coerce them into forced labour or sexual exploitation and simultaneously operating in multiple locations. The use and abuse of technology offered traffickers an opportunity to expand their business activities globally. Seated in their comfort zones, traffickers were and are still able to exploit victims using technology.

Addressing delegates, International Labour Organisation National Co-ordinator, Resh Mehta, said trafficking for forced labour was a major concern.

She said, “All work or service that is extracted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered themselves voluntarily must be punishable as a panel offense with adequate penalties.”

“There are 27.6 million people who are trafficked into forced labour on any given day, which has risen by 9.3 million since 2016. Forced labour has been driven by compounding crises such as Covid-19 pandemic, armed conflicts, and climate change which have led to unprecedented disruption to employment and education, increases in extreme poverty and forced and unsafe migrations,” added Mehta.

She said that 86% of forced labour is imposed by private actors and that women and girls make up 11.8 million of the total forced labour. Almost one in eight of all those in forced labour are children (3.3 million).
In Gauteng Province, the Department of Social Development received and dealt with cases of both adults and children who were victims of online sexual exploitation. During interviews and assessments victims reported that they either met their traffickers on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tinder.

One survivor, who cannot be mentioned by name to protect her identity, stated she met someone on Tinder, was told they should meet up at a restaurant so that she would be assisted with employment.

She recruited some of her friends and they were told they would earn an extra R15 000 a month by working with sex toys online.

“We were locked up in one place and our phones were confiscated,” she said.

However, they managed to escape through the balcony of the hired apartment and were assisted by Hawks who took them to a shelter whilst the case was being investigated.

The lady, who gave her testimony encouraged parents to look out for the content which their kids consume through mobile sites to avoid incidents of human trafficking.

To report a suspected human trafficking case, one can call the 24/7 National Human Trafficking Hotline on 0800 222 777.